1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an oral healthcare system having interchangeable, detachable, disposable heads. More particularly, the invention relates to an oral care system with three main heads, a toothbrush head, a tongue cleaner head and a mirror head. The system will also accommodate specialized heads which include an interdental brush head, an oversize brush head, an implant brush head, a gum brush head, a denture brush head, a gum stimuli head, and an ortho brush head for completely attending to one""s daily and specialized oral hygiene.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior to the present invention, no practical and economical oral care system existed that was commercially available where a person could purchase the complete system tailored to his oral care needs that had everything the person needed between check ups for properly caring for his permanent teeth, dentures, partials and/or retainers. More and more people are being educated concerning proper hygiene for the teeth and gums, especially in the United States. Since people are now living longer, there is a need to maintain your teeth and gums longer. Hence, people are attempting to be proactive concerning their teeth so that they may serve them longer.
A number of assemblies exist in the prior art that have detachable heads from their handles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,381 and 5,850,659 of Butler et. al. are directed to toothbrushes with interchangeable heads that are bendable and/or rotateable as desired for achieving what is the best angle for brushing. This toothbrush has an oversized handle and interchangeable, flexible heads of different sizes, bristles arrangements, and geometrical configurations. U.S. Pat. No. 5,617,884 of Allison is another example of a toothbrush with removable heads.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 344,414 shows an ornamental design for a toothbrush with a disposable head. It appears that the bristles are pushed out of the head with the thumb from the back of the head and presumably replaced with another cartridge of bristles. U.S. Design Pat. No. 366,368 shows an ornamental design for a toothbrush with a detachable head, which appears to have a spring loaded button that locks the head onto the handle and presumably removes the head by the same button.
None of this prior art discloses the present invention.
The oral healthcare system of the present invention creates improved oral hygiene as it enables the user to brush his/her teeth, clean his/her tongue, and with the aid of the mirror head and a secondary mirror (that may be the bathroom mirror), by use of indirect vision, to observe the teeth and gums in the oral cavity to review any inconsistency that the user may believe exists. This oral care system of the present invention relates to a toothbrush having interchangeable, detachable, disposable heads comprising
a) an ergonomically shaped handle with a neck end and a butt end, a front side and a back side, where the neck end tapers into an elongated stem, on the front and back sides of the handle a distance from the stem a locking nodule is located integrated with stopping means, and on the back side of the handle a gripping means for securely holding the handle during its use, and
b) an interchangeable head with a front side and back side where toothbrush bristles are located on the front side and as an integral part thereof a recessed, elongated cavity suitable for receiving and seating the tapered elongated stem therein to form a firm backbone support framework for the handle and locking slots on the front and back sides of the head for receiving and securing the locking nodules of the handle to the head.
The present invention further is directed to an oral care system using the toothbrush noted above and at least two other interchangeable heads of a mirror head and a tongue cleaner head.
The system also accommodates specialized heads for orthodontics, periodontics, implants, dentures and bridgework.